Carrie Fairchild
Telly Talk Dream Maker
Yes, NBC's lack of enthusiasm in the 1980s and 1990s for its day-part was perplexing, since they were so extravagant toward early morning (Today Show) and late-fringe (The Tonight Show and Letterman) after having conquered prime time. You would think execs would have put the grease ($$$) where the squeaky wheel was...but instead they famously treated their daytime shows like wicked stepchildren. Victoria Wyndham of Another World remarked in an interview (shortly after the show's cancellation was announced) that NBC had "finally gotten their way," since she knew they had wanted rid of AW "since the early 1990s". If NBC had insisted that their affiliates air their soap lineup in "proper" order and not allow them to time-shift (and eventually not air) the soaps, then none of the other networks would have been forced to allow the same thing...which obviously hastened the demise of other soaps on other networks and now makes it impossible for the networks to advertise anything in their line-up with a defined timeslot.
I'm not completely au fait with the ins and outs of who owns / owned the rights to the NBC soaps but in my lifetime at least, they appear to be the most widely seen worldwide behind B&B and Y&R. Sunset Beach, Santa Barbara, Days of Our Lives and Another World all aired extensively in Europe, Asia and Australia while the ABC soaps didn't get much of a look in. So you would presume it would've been in NBC's interest to invest in their shows given the fact that they were making money from overseas sales (much in the same way that Home and Away & Neighbours are being propped up in Australia by their success in the UK).